In Her Arms
by Maetro
Summary: A Stacey/Dawn romantic pairing. It all started with a hug. Nothing explicit or graphic. Told in second person point of view.


I'm not quite sure where this came from. I was at work and it just sort of popped into my head while I was working on ideas for Finding My Way.

This piece has nothing to do with my other one. It's a stand alone.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own these characters. They belong to Ann. M. Martin and Scholastic and whoever else holds the rights to them.

**In Her Arms**

It started out simply enough. You were 13. Just a kid and too young to understand what your feelings really mean. All you know was that you really liked the way she hugged.

You realize this the first time she came back after moving to California.

The two of you weren't particularly close. Not even back in the club days when you saw each other all the time. You haven't talked since she moved away. But, you were friends and it made you feel good that she was so excited to see you. She walks into the room and you shout her name in surprise. She yells yours right back and then fairly launchs herself at you, wrapping her long arms around you and pulling you tight against her. She hugs the same way she does everything, with passion and abandon.

It wasn't one of those half-hearted hugs where she wraps her arms around your shoulders for two seconds and let go, like the girls at school do in greeting. It was a full-body hug, her arms around you, her face buried in your shoulder and your bodies pressed together. Then, she pulls back and studies you up and down, exclaiming over your hair, your clothes, how good you look. And you're complimenting her on her tan, and asking how it's possible that her hair got even lighter.

Then, she's moving away as someone else comes into the room and the whole process is repeated over again. You stare after her, the feeling of her arms around you lingering for a moment and then you are caught up in the excitement of her return and jump into the conversation. The hug and the feelings it invoked are forgotten.

You realize it again a couple weeks later when she's leaving for California. This time, there's no joy in her as she wraps her body around yours and holds you close. Her tears stain your shirt and yours fall silently onto hers. You're sorry to see her go but you're happy to have this last moment in each others arms.

As you grow older, you begin to notice different things about her hugs. At fourteen, you notice the scent of her shampoo and the softness of her skin.

At fifteen you notice how your bodies seem to slide together, like two pieces of a puzzle. The height difference is just perfect for you to rest your head against her shoulder and for her to press her cheek against the your head.

At sixteen, she adds a kiss on the cheek to the ritual. This time, you've all gone out to California to visit her for her birthday. A sweet sixteen birthday present courtesy of her parents and her step father. She's waiting for you at the airport and comes running over the moment you step into the termnial. She greets everyone individually, and you patiently wait your turn. As always, she engulfs you, and you try your best to return the hug with equal enthusiasm. As she's pulling away, you feel the faint brush of lips against your cheek and she's whispering in your ear how glad she is you've come. A blush heats your face and your cheek tingles. You resist the urge to reach a hand up and brush the skin her lips have just touched.

Beside you, Kristy has no such compunction and reaches up to wipe her cheek with the back of her hand, exlaiming that she now has Dawn cooties. You laugh with the others but you're not really in their moment. You sense that these hugs are different for you than they are for the others but you haven't quite figured out why.

At seventeen, you still haven't figured it out. You just try not to feel guilty as you sigh and fall into her arms.

You're eigtheen when it hits you. You're back in California. This trip is a graduation present and a surprise so this time she doesn't meet you at the airport. This time her father comes and picks you up and drives you to the house. He directs you out back while he heads inside. You find her outside, reading in the sun. Her head whips around when she hears you at the gate and she lets out a squeal of surprise. She stands and reaveals that she's wearing a pair of very, very short shorts and a blue bikin top. You fall back from the others as they swarm around her.

You can't take your eyes off her. She's absolutely breathtaking, tanned golden from the sun with long, muscular legs and a smooth, hard stomach and...your thoughts trail off and your breath catches in your throat as you look up and meet her eyes just before she wraps her arms around you. It feels good. Too good. And you're torn between pulling away and indulging in this new, guilty pleasure.

She whispers how great it is to see you, her lips against your ear before she pulls back. You turn, to tell her the same and the kiss she was going to brush against your cheek hits the corner of your lip instead. Immediately, your face heats up in a blush and you cast your gaze down because you know that she would be able to see it in your eyes. You wait for her to pull away, knowing that she will never touch you again. You hold your breath and pray that she at least doesn't tell the others.

A heartbeat, then another. Maybe she didn't notice after all. You glance up and find her staring down at you, an unreadable expression on her face. Another moment passes and a faint smile plays across her lips.

Your heart stops beating in your chest a moment later when she dips her head and presses her lips against yours. The contact is fleeting and leaves you breathless. You stare up at her, speechless. She meets your eye and you can read the uncertainty there. You smile a reassurance and she grins back. She pulls away but leaves her arm around your shoulder as she guides you across the lawn to where the others are settling in the sun, all of them oblivious to your exchange.


End file.
